This undated photo provided by NASA and taken by an instrument aboard the agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows dark, narrow, 100 meter-long streaks on the surface of Mars that scientists believe were caused by flowing streams of salty water. Researchers said Monday, Sept. 28, 2015, that the latest observations strongly support the longtime theory that salt water in liquid form flows down certain Martian slopes each summer. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona via AP)

Mars appears to have flowing rivulets of water. That is, in the summer at least. Scientists have reported the finding. It boosts the odds of life on the red planet.

"Mars is not the dry, arid planet that we thought of in the past," said Jim Green. He is director of planetary science for NASA.

Scientists in 2008 confirmed the existence of frozen water on Mars. Now instruments aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have yielded what researchers said is the strongest evidence yet. It appears that water in liquid form trickles down certain Martian slopes.

Liquid water is essential to life. So the finding could have major implications for the possibility of microscopic life forms on Mars. The planet is Earth's next-door neighbor.

"It suggests that it would be possible for there to be life today on Mars," NASA's science mission chief, John Grunsfeld, said Sept. 28. He spoke at a Washington news conference.

If they are rivulets, they are about 12 to 15 feet wide. They are 300 feet or more long, scientists said. They apparently consist of wet soil. It is not standing water. They are not sure if they are rivulets though, since the evidence for their existence is indirect.

The water is believed to contain certain salts. But it is not ordinary table salt. It contains magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate and sodium perchlorate. So it is more like road salt. Road salt is used to melt ice and snow on Earth. Such compounds can prevent water from freezing at extremely low temperatures.

That would explain how water could exist in liquid form on Mars. The planet has an average temperature of minus 81 degrees Fahrenheit.

In addition to supporting life, the presence of liquid water could make things easier for astronauts visiting or living on Mars. Water could be used for drinking. And it could be used for creating oxygen and rocket fuel. NASA's goal is to send humans there. But it will not happen until at least the 2030s.

Michael Meyer is the lead scientist for NASA's Mars exploration program. He said the only sure way for now to determine whether there is life on Mars is to collect rocks and soil for analysis on Earth. It is something a U.S. lander set for liftoff in 2020 will do.

"Water is one of the most precious resources necessary for a human mission to the red planet," noted Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas. He is chairman of the House science, space and technology committee. "The more evidence we find of it, the more encouraged I am for future Mars missions."

Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona at Tucson is a scientist on the project. He said he believes the possibility of life on Mars to be "very high."

The source of the briny water is a mystery. Scientists said it could be melting ice. It could be an underground aquifer. It could be water vapor from the thin Martian atmosphere. Or it could be some combination.

The evidence of flowing water consists largely of dark, narrow streaks on the surface. They tend to appear and grow during the warmest Martian months. They fade the rest of the year. The streaks are in places where the temperature is as low as 10 below zero.

They were spotted by the Mars orbiter's high-resolution, telescopic camera. Another on-board instrument detected the chemical signature of salt compounds combined with water.

McEwen said that there appears to be a "significant volume" of water. He guessed that it could fill many Olympic swimming pools. But it is spread thin.

Present day Mars is nothing like ancient Mars. Three billion years ago, our most Earthlike neighbor had a huge ocean. But something radical happened. Exactly what remains a mystery.

The notion of water and life on Mars has been irresistible to earthlings for generations.

In 1877, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli spied what he called "canali" on Mars. Canali is Italian for "channels. The word was mistranslated as "canals" in English. That caused imaginations to run wild. In the early 1900s, amateur astronomer Percival Lowell claimed to have spotted irrigation canals. He theorized they were built by Martians.

In 2008, NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed on Mars. It confirmed the long-suspected presence of ice in the soil. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been circling the planet since 2006.

The latest findings were published in the journal Nature Geoscience. The lead author is a doctoral candidate at Georgia Institute of Technology. Lujendra Ojha first noticed the streaks on Mars in 2010. Ojha and colleagues guessed that they were seeing flowing water.

For NASA the timing could not be better. On Oct. 2, the NASA-approved movie "The Martian" has its premiere.

I would like water on Mars because I want the astronauts to visit the planet. Water boost the odds of life on the red planet. If there is water on Mars then plants can grow.

derekzangerle-bak

10/06/2015 - 05:23 p.m.

I really wonder if there could be water and life on Mars. In 2030 maybe I can go there myself.

Derek

ellaholick-bak

10/06/2015 - 08:22 p.m.

MARS!What a cool thing to write about and water on mars is even better!

tylerb-1-coo

10/07/2015 - 10:39 a.m.

Water is important source of life with out water is no life in Mars.

valdezarteaga,anthony-mon

10/09/2015 - 01:58 p.m.

I believe the discovery of water might be a hint at life might exist on mars because living things need water to live so i believe there actually might be life on mars.

matthew1-ven

10/13/2015 - 10:15 a.m.

On Earth, people rely on 2 things to live: oxygen and water. On Mars, there is water, according to the article. But it didn't mention if there was oxygen or not, so we do not know if there could be Martians living on the planet Mars.

jasono1-sti

10/14/2015 - 10:52 a.m.

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

angelicam.mendez-bul

10/19/2015 - 12:57 p.m.

Society needs water to live, and if they found water mars that means that. In the future there could be life on mars. People need water to cook, stay energetic etc. and if mars has that then maybe in the future mars should be considered another world.

alexiscano-bul

10/19/2015 - 01:17 p.m.

To see if people can life on mars just like earth. Today scientists have seen something in mars flowing water. This is the most amazing thing today to see if the red planet has actual life because of water there might be animals and plants.

John0724-YYCA

10/20/2015 - 08:42 p.m.

I don't really know if sending people to Mars is a good idea in the next couple years because people have been working on these for years and they never sent a rocket to Mars. But there could be life in Earth because there is water now.